BANGKOK, THAILAND – As the world continues to change drastically — thanks to the widespread impact of the COVID-19 pandemic — the creative industry is also settling into a new rhythm. adobo magazine has been checking in with some of the world’s best, award-winning leaders in the communications industry to find out how they are doing.
Today, we peek into the mind of Suthisak Sucharittanonta, creative chairman of BBDO Bangkok as he shares how limitations have impacted their team’s creative work: What are these challenges? How have they overcome it?
As he reflected on how these recent changes have affected creativity, he shared that, “Sometimes it is the limitations that we encounter in life that drive the need for creativity. COVID-19 has resulted in limitations across all aspects of life: work, family and social. And we’ve seen how people have used creativity to find a way to cope with the uncertainty.”
Sucharittanonta is definitely familiar with the power of creativity in these times, as he has been in the Thai advertising scene for over 30 years, making him a pioneer of the industry and one of the most awarded creatives in Asia. He has created advertising imbued with outstanding, unique creativity that have won countless awards from some of the most internationally acclaimed award shows in the world, including Thailand’s first Cannes Film Gold Lion in 2003.
He was honored in Bangkok Art Directors’ Association Hall of Fame, and under his direction, BBDO Bangkok became the GUNN Report’s 8th most awarded agency in the world in 2004. Suthisak was being named Southeast Asia Creative of the Year 2016 by Campaign Asia, and he was inducted into the ADFEST Lotus Legend Hall of Fame in 2017.
As someone with these credentials, Sucharittanonta is one who is always looking for new ways to bring out his ideas and discover something new. He shared how he has been able to do this amid quarantine:
“In lockdown, I, with our Flare studio editor, made an entire film from .jpeg images to help the Ramathibodi Foundation raise funds to buy medical supplies for the Ramathibodi Hospital. Pre-COVID, this probably wouldn’t even have been considered, but given the limitations, it worked very well. Amazing what can be done with a week at home, just a few .jpegs and Mac Books. I also took a photo of my sister’s dog and made an ad to tell my friends to stay home.”
Outside personal initiatives, he also talked about how these so-called “limitations” have empowered his teams at BBDO Bangkok to think outside the box. “My teams have had the limitations that social distancing and work from home brought on. From briefs to pitches, conference calls to video calls, no face to face with each other or our clients. It was as new for us as it was for them. We all felt like we were not only surviving COVID-19 but also the unpredictable business challenges that came along with it.”
“The good side of this was many of us have had a chance to stay close to our families, spending more time chatting, cooking, baking and playing. The limitations put on our ability to go out somehow broadened our limits and willingness to connect with one another.”
“Without limits, we have nothing to measure how far we can go. When it comes to creativity, you can create limits for it, but you cannot contain it. Creativity always finds a way… and so will we. Thanks to our clients and my teams at BBDO Bangkok, who continue to see the limits and push them.”
This article is part of a series by adobo magazine exploring “Creative Minds in Lockdown,” a look into how industry experts are coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of community quarantine in select parts of the world.
